New 'cultural awareness' raising projects funded by Australia-Indonesia Institute

SIXTEEN NEW GRANTS funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute have been announced by Australia Foriegn Minister Julie Bishop to foster bilateral links, increase cultural awareness and further strengthens the close relationship between Indonesia and Australia.

The projects, some of which are already underway, are:

Australia Indonesia Awards - The Australia Indonesia Association (NSW) is now preparing its third edition of its national program of annual awards to recognise and honour Australians and Indonesians ($10,000).

Empowering young Indonesian women through netball - Newly formed Netball Indonesia aims to empower women through promoting women’s participation in sport in Lombok, NTB ($30,000)


Tackling obesity in Indonesia: a social marketing study - A Griffith University project to enhance collaboration between Australian and Indonesian researchers through a series of planned data collection an a seminar at the University of Surabaya ($15,000)

2017 Asialink arts residencies to Indonesia: Creating cultural networks - Enable Asialink Arts to award 2+ Australian arts professionals a residency grant to Indonesia (#130,000)

Strengthening Australian Indonesian Connections through Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Education - Promoting further collaboration between Curtin University and Universitas Negeri Jakarta while developing and improving the STEM education skills of Indonesian teachers and pre-service teachers (#14,000)

OzAsia Festival - Contemporary Indonesia Program - A special 10 year anniversary celebration of OzAsia Festival’s Outdoor Concert Series including free performances over ten spectacular nights in Adelaide, South Australia ($30,000)

The Taste of Gamelan - Twelve Javanese gamelan musical pieces about food performed by Melbourne Community Gamelan will be paired with snacks for the audience, created by Yuni's Kitchen in Northcote, Victoria ($5,000)

Darwin Festival - Indonesian Program - A program of Indonesian work as a centre piece of the 2016 Festival including Garin Nugroho in Medium,  and Leilani Hermiasih and her digital piano Oskar ($33,000)

Professional Practice Model Pilot - The School of Education RMIT University will work in collaborative partnership with Universitas Negeri Jakarta and Jambi University Sumatra to improve student teachers' school placement practices ($15,000)

Community for Open Antimicrobial Drug Discovery Indonesia Engagement Program - The antibiotic pipeline is broken, with few new antibiotics and little current pharmaceutical company research. Building on antimicrobial expertise at The University of Queensland,  CO-ADD is a global open-access screening initiative to uncover untested chemical diversity ($6,500)


Eko Supriyanto’s ‘Balabala’ – co-commissioning and presentation at Asia TOPA - Arts Centre Melbourne will co-commission ‘Balabala’, a contemporary dance work by Indonesia’s leading choreographer Eko Supriyanto ($22,000)

Reconnecting Our Connection 2016 - Re-Connecting our Connection 2016 will continue the relationship building between Indonesian artists and Yolngu artists and community through workshops in East Arnhem Land ($10,000)

Lyrics of Mass Construction Tour - The Brothahood's project to bring five Australian born Muslim artists (rappers) to Ubud, Bali, to share their experiences as Muslims in Australia through hip-hop ($15,000)

Escapade - Superstar of Indonesian dance Rianto and Artistic Director of Dance North Australia Kyle Page will spend three weeks developing a new dance work to be performed in both Australia and Indonesia ($16,500)

Hong Kong Producers Network Meeting Forum - Jala Adolphus will create partnerships and potential tours for Australian commissioned Indonesian works across the Chinese speaking region ($2,000)

Data science meets forest fire science - Monash University workshops on forest fire in peat lands as a natural disaster affecting the forests, ecosystems and human life in Central Kalimantan as the first step to an interdisciplinary unit at Palangkaraya University ($20,900)

According to AII Chair, Associate Professor Greg Fealy, "the work of the AII and its grantees fulfils an important role in updating perceptions and understanding between the people of both countries."